Weightless Against All Odds

Today, I've written a letter to my future self.  I've also written a hard copy of this and put it in sealed envelope.  It's meant to be read upon my graduation of college.  I've decided to write myself one at the start of every semester because of this random inspiration to write today's letter. 

Dear Katie 

       You were walking down to the dining commons after PT and contemplating your future.  School had just started and you were feeling weightless. Every step you took was effortless even though you'd just finished a nice little battalion run and could not have been more tired. The thought to write a letter to your future self occurred to you because you wanted to remind yourself of what exactly that feeling was. 

This is you right now.  Okay well a couple days ago, but still...

      September 4, 2014. You're a freshman in college with graduation so far away it doesn't even seem real.  You're PT score is worse than it has ever been.  You're living in a state without any near-by family, no job, and not a freaking clue about how on earth you're going to pay for your next semester of college.  School is hard.  You have a lot of homework.  You have tons of reading.  ROTC is new and frustrating.  It has only been two weeks, but you can tell the adjustment is going to take some time. Life isn't easy right now.  You've been single for a quite a long time and it's sort of starting to get old. You dream too big for the amount of money that you have, but you can't help it and that's okay. 

     Sometimes you wish that it was easy.  You wish that you'd saved every penny you had ever earned to pay for college.  You wish that you didn't have to take a million and a half credits to finish your degree.  Sometimes you even wish that you could be content in mediocrity and not reach for the stars like you do.  Well, future me, I'm here to remind you that you wouldn't be the person that you are today without all this struggle.  You wouldn't have accomplished half of the things you have without the endurance that your life has taught you.

     You're supposed to be reading this when you graduate from college, so if you're reading it before then you're wrong. So...as a college graduate, I want you to remember that feeling you had walking to eat some morning chow.  With everything that was trying to weigh you down you still could think of nothing but how great you felt.  Never stop trying to be better.  Always do the things that scare you most.  Listen to your heart and follow your dreams.  No matter how hard it seems you can always feel weightless.